Given the vast amount of research related to behavioral assessment, it is difficult for clinicians to keep abreast of new developments. In recent years, there have been advances in assessment, case conceptualization, treatment planning, treatment strategies for specific disorders, and considerations of new ethical and legal issues. Keeping track of advances requires monitoring diverse resources limited to specific disorders, many of which give short shrift to child assessment, overlooking developmental considerations. Much of the existing literature is either theoretical/research in focus or clinical in nature. Nowhere are the various aspects of child behavioral assessment placed in a comprehensive research/clinical context, nor is there much integration as to conceptualization and treatment planning. The Clinician’s Handbook of Child Behavioral Assessment was created to fill this gap, summarizing critical information for child behavioral assessment in a single source.

The Clinician’s Handbook of Child Behavioral Assessment provides a single source for understanding new developments in this field, cutting across strategies, techniques, and disorders. Assessment strategies are presented in context with the research behind those strategies, along with discussions of clinical utility, and how assessment and conceptualization fit in with treatment planning. The volume is organized in three sections, beginning with general issues, followed by evaluations of specific disorders and problems, and closing with special issues. To ensure cross chapter consistency in the coverage of disorders, these chapters are formatted to contain an introduction, assessment strategies, research basis, clinical utility, conceptualization and treatment planning, a case study, and summary. Special issue coverage includes child abuse assessment, classroom assessment, behavioral neuropsychology, academic skills problems, and ethical-legal issues. Suitable for beginning and established clinicians in practice, this handbook will provide a ready reference toward effective child behavioral assessment.

Michel Hersen (Ph.D., ABPP, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1966) is Professor and Dean of the School of Professional Psychology at Pacific University. He completed his post-doctoral training at the West Have VA (Yale University School of Medicine Program). He is Past President of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy. He has coauthored and co-edited 146 books and has published 225 scientific journal articles. He is co-editor of several psychological journals, including Behavior Modification, Aggression & Violent Behavior: A Review Journal, Clinical Psychology Review, and Journal of Family Violence. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Anxiety Disorders and of Clinical Case Studies, which is totally devoted to description of clients and patients treated with psychotherapy. He is Editor-in-Chief of the 4-volume work, Comprehensive Handbook of Psychological Assessment. He has been the recipient of numerous grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Education, the National Institute of Disabilities and Rehabilitation Research, and the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Professional Psychology, Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Distinguished Practitioner and Member of the National Academy of Practice in Psychology, and recipient of the Distinguished Career Achievement Award in 1996 from the American Board of Medical Psychotherapists and Psychodiagnosticians. Finally, at one point in his career, he was in full-time private practice and on several occasions he has had part-time private practices.